Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Links

‘‘It’s tantamount to kicking the ladder out from beneath the feet of many Americans struggling in today’s economy,’’ Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the floor of the Senate....‘‘The president nailed it: this can’t wait,’’ said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. ‘‘We will cut this carbon pollution today so our children don’t inherit climate chaos tomorrow.’’

Obama threw his green supporters a bone today with his new climate action plan, outlined in a speech at Georgetown and available to read here. His speech was pretty dull, as these things usually are, so we’ve done you the favor of pulling out the most interesting bits. Here’s what you need to know.

President Obama’s climate plan is a political gamble that will be hard to win. Under the Copenhagen Accord, the United States has committed to reducing carbon emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 — an objective that Mr. Obama did not mention, and with good reason. The United States cannot possibly meet that target, no matter how many members Mr. Obama enrolls in his Hot Earth Society.